


Full of Charts and Facts and Figures

by ambiguously



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Pirates, Undercover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2020-01-11 07:27:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18425799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambiguously/pseuds/ambiguously
Summary: Mace and Depa get kidnapped by pirates.





	Full of Charts and Facts and Figures

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shanlyrical](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shanlyrical/gifts).



The smell of this place had assaulted his senses even in his dreams. Mace woke to the noxious, heavy atmosphere of a ship with poor environmental systems maintained by a crew with poorer hygiene. His hands were bound, as were his feet. Those were small considerations, and could be easily dealt with once he had finished assessing the situation, which started with the fact that he was a captive. He sensed the almost imperceptible movement as they traveled through hyperspace. A captive being transported somewhere. He was doubtful it would be to his benefit. He tilted his head, moving his swimming gaze from the filthy deck to focus unsteadily on the nearest bulkhead. The wall was not much cleaner than the floor, and the adjoining wall was barred with an old-fashioned metal grid.

As he sat up, his head was struck from behind.

"Don't move, Jedi."

Being transported somewhere not good, and his captors knew who he was. He adjusted his assessment of his situation. Against their orders, he turned. Two guards raised their blaster rifles at him.

"Don't look in his eyes!" warned one to his fellow. "They enchant you with their eyes!"

"No, they enchant you with their voice," said the other. "I told you, we ought to gag them."

Mace's recent memory cleared, as did his eyesight. He saw the crumpled form bound on the other side of the room. Concern flooded him, and he reached out with the Force. She was unconscious.

He and Depa had taken a mission together, a rare treat for them both. The mission required a pair of Jedi rather than their clone forces. While they spent plenty of time together at the Jedi Temple, they hadn't been out in the galaxy as just the two of them in years. He'd missed her steady companionship out here, and had leapt at the opportunity, and his incaution had caught them. He hadn't seen the ship that attacked them. Their airlock had been breached with numbing gas before they'd even had time to reach for their own weapons. The identity of their captors, while specifically unknown, was generally obvious. They'd been taken by pirates. Human pirates, though there might be others outside the cell.

Mace said, "If you release us now, I will make sure no harm comes to you."

The first pirate laughed in a low voice. "See, Obo? He's not enchanting. No, Jedi, we're not letting you loose."

"Where are you taking us?"

Obo said, "That's for us to know and you to find out!" He grinned, pleased with his own wit.

"Keep me. Let her go." He added a note of pleading, a man begging for his lover's safety over his own. Not far from the truth, and easier to act because of it.

Obo smirked. "Not likely. She's worth more than you are."

Transported to trade and then to sell. Mace had already assumed this was the case, but now he'd confirmed it. Behind them, Depa's eyes had opened, though she lay still, pretending to be unconscious. She blinked at him once. Mace kept his gaze away from her, drawing their captors' attention. He played for time now. What was the next thing he ought to say? Oh yes.

"You'll never get away with it."

This was side-splitting humor to the two pirates, who were bright enough not to drop their weapons as they guffawed.

"Look," Mace said, "maybe we can come to some sort of arrangement. How many credits is he paying you?"

"More than you've got," said the first pirate, whose name Mace never learned. Obo's blaster rifle jerked out of his grip and into Depa's, where she instantly turned it onto them both with stun blasts. They dropped to the deck.

"Tying my hands in front of me?" she asked incredulously. "We used to see a better class of captors, as I recall. None of this staying in the cells with the prisoners nonsense."

Mace smiled at her, and was careful to keep the pride out of it. Depa was long past being his pupil. Her achievements were her own. "You stunned them?"

"They stunned themselves. I didn't stop to check the setting before I fired. Apparently they really did want us alive." She worked at the bonds at her wrists.

"Slide over," he said, and worked on the other's bindings.

"Rope," Depa said with derision. "Not even proper metal binders. Sloppy."

"We'd unlock those in a moment."

"Yes, but we'll have these off in a moment as well. Who do you think they're working for?" Her hands free, Depa pulled her arms close and massaged the skin there before setting to work on her feet. Mace had his ankles untied a moment after.

He picked up the remaining blaster rifle, and hoped his lightsaber was close by. "Let's find out."

The smell was better outside the cramped cell. The ship didn't contain much more than that. They had apparently been kept in the cargo bay. Crew quarters stacked to either side of the corridor, leading to what was probably the cockpit. They exchange a silent look. The two in the cargo bay hadn't been very bright, but they had no means of knowing how many other crew members were aboard, or if they were better equipped to handle two Jedi prisoners.

Mace did check the blaster in his hands. Stun it was, then. Their captors had intended to keep the prisoners alive, and the prisoners would return the favor. They approached the door to the cockpit.

He thought back to how Obo had spoken, and as he hit the door switch, he said in a passable imitation of the pirate's voice: "'Ere, it's your turn to watch them."

The two figures in the pilot's and copilot's chairs spun, annoyance already growing on their faces. Mace and Depa stunned them before they could speak. They shuffled the bodies out of the seats then slid in front of the controls. Depa examined the panel while Mace dug under it to retrieve their lightsabers.

"We're going to come out of hyperspace in five minutes. I don't know these coordinates. It's not one of the worlds I've visited before."

"It wouldn't be. We're being sold off to someone. They won't want to have company."

Her hands moved over the controls. "I can program in a short jump as soon as we arrive, and give us a chance to find our position."

"Risky."

"Not that risky," she said with a satisfied smile. "There. We'll be a blip as we arrive, and we'll be half a system away right after."

He opened the ship's computer, examining the records. "No names, but I've got a price. You're worth fifteen thousand credits. I'm only worth twelve thousand." Mace had offered up a 'he' when he'd interrogated their captors, and had received an affirmative. They were meeting a single buyer. "I've heard about this. Black market collectors want Jedi for their personal use."

"And women are worth a higher price. I saw the same report." She wasn't frightened, nor concerned for her own safety. At worst, he saw what could be the edge of a growing righteous anger. "We haven't recovered the bodies of all the Jedi fallen in the war, including Padawans. It's possible some of them still live."

He watched her. "You want to go after them."

"Don't you?"

"It's not the mission we're supposed to be on. But now that you mention it, yes."

She touched the controls. "I can cancel the second jump. We can see who's waiting for us."

"What should we tell him when we meet him?"

She sat back, thinking. "My first impulse? Nothing. We go in, we take them out. But we both know better."

"You're thinking this is a middleman."

"I am. Taking out the pirates and the buyer won't do us any good if we don't know who's behind the abduction. If there's anyone to be rescued, we won't find them that way."

He didn't like the drift of her thoughts. "We can make him talk."

She gave him a look. "I doubt we could. Anyone involved in the trading of Jedi would have to be resistant to mind tricks. We need to meet the real buyer. You're going to have to sell me to him." At his affronted look, she added, "I'm worth more, remember?"

Mace knew she was right. "I don't like it."

"You don't have to like it," she said. "Now get your robes off and put on the clothes of one of these pirates. I'll lock the rest in before they wake up."

As their commandeered ship dropped out of hyperspace, Mace pulled on a terrible-smelling hat, which matched the reek in his new clothes. Depa held her hands out in front of her.

"Behind your back," he said. "They were sloppy. I have standards." He went into the role he was performing, loosening his stance, drawling out more of his vowels to match the patois of their former captors. His name was Starnis. He'd been a low-level operator on the team for the last ten years, but the sale of this Jedi witch would be his ticket to bigger things.

Depa placed her hands behind her back. "Don't have too high standards. I'd prefer an easy knot."

He tied her wrists tightly but not painfully, and left the end of the rope handy. The knot was huge yet could be tugged apart with ease at need. "You're sure about this?" he asked her, for a moment allowing his concern to come through while it was just the two of them here.

"I'm open to a better plan if you can come up with one before the other ship docks."

"I'm still partial to using our lightsabers and striking the buyer down." Be safe, he didn't say, and didn't have to.

"Don't worry. And don't dawdle. I expect you to be close by as backup." The other ship hailed them.

He nodded, and wrapped a cloth loosely around her mouth. Then he turned on the holoviewer. "Are you ready?" he demanded. The holographic figure looked human, but a much higher class of human than the pirates.

"Who is this? Where is Priston?"

"Dead. You send an amateur to catch a Jedi, your amateur is going to lose his head." He tugged Depa into view. "Fortunately for you, I'm a professional."

"My intel said there were two Jedi."

"Your intel was wrong. You can have the woman, or I can go look for another buyer. Your choice."

The buyer grumbled in his throat. "I'll take her. I'll transfer the credits as soon as she's aboard. Twelve thousand."

Mace tugged Depa's arm, pulling her closer. "The price was fifteen."

"That was when I was purchasing a complete breeding pair. Now the price is twelve for her."

"Fourteen. I went through a lot of trouble to collect this one."

The buyer sighed deeply, as if he were doing Mace a favor. "You can have thirteen and a half, or you can have a Jedi on your hands."

"Done."

The airlock hissed as it opened between the ships. The buyer wrinkled his nose at the smell. Mace didn't blame him. He shoved Depa along, holding a stolen blaster on her. "Be careful," he warned. "She enchanted two of my men with her voice."

This earned him a pitiful glare. "They have that effect on the weak-minded." He gave a look to the rest of the ship as Mace handed over her lightsaber. "Where is the rest of the crew?"

"Dead. I told you she's a difficult one." Mace forced himself to relax as the buyer took Depa by the shoulders roughly. "As it turns out, I'm in need of work. I could come with you and guard this one."

Depa stepped back, huddling and making herself tremble beside her new captor, as if frightened of Mace. The buyer took note of her obvious fear, reassessing this pirate who'd brought in a Jedi. "I can't pay much. My employer only gave me enough for the purchase."

Mace folded his arms. "You were expecting to buy two Jedi."

"And I still need to acquire another."

Depa took the moment to struggle, shoving the buyer away with a hard elbow. Mace grabbed her as she made to run. They'd sparred together hundreds of times in her youth, until she was as good at hand to hand combat as she was with her lightsaber. He telegraphed his punch and pulled the power to a tap. Depa crumpled to the deck, shocked eyes on him.

"Stay put," he said, and to the buyer he said, "Good luck with her."

"I can pay you five hundred," he said. "You come with me and deliver her. If your services are acceptable," he said, with a sudden flick of his eyes over Mace's body, "I can arrange a more permanent position for you by my side."

"Five hundred," Mace agreed. He held out his hand. "The name's Starnis."

"Call me Mister Trim."

"Let me put my ship into stasis, and I'll join you." Trim took Depa's arm, yanking her up and pulling her through the airlock. Mace went back to the cockpit and set automatic commands for the crew cabins to unlock in four days. The pirates would have water and air with them. They could have their ship back when Mace and Depa were safely away. He also set an automatic beacon to send to Republic forces in three days, alerting them to the pirates.

He stowed his robes into a backpack, and shoved his lightsaber deep into his stolen longcoat. Then he crossed the airlock and shut the hatch from the other side.

Trim waited for him. He allowed Mace to escort Depa to the brig, sealing her in with a hum of energy. "Keep an eye on her. These creatures are dangerous, even locked up."

"You said your employer wants to breed more?"

"He wants a pair of them. He's looking for a male and female of the same species. He hasn't said why."

Mace pointed at her. "This one's human."

"Yes. She may be sufficient if he's looking to breed new ones of his own. I'm not familiar with the genetic requirements."

Mace had grown up believing there were no genetic requirements, that the Force chose its vessels as needed. He had also been born to a community of Force-sensitives whom he believed were descended from marooned Jedi thousands of years before, which meant there was a strong genetic component to his own gifts. If Depa was 'sufficient,' that implied their would-be owner was also human.

He shrugged. "Not my concern."

"You didn't sample her on the way to meet us, did you?" The question had hooks inside. If Mace stumbled on his answer, Trim's master would kill him.

Mace let out a snort. "Witches aren't my type." He lowered his voice. "The story I heard says they have teeth." He tilted his head at her. "You know. There."

Trim pulled back with a start. "I'm sure that's nonsense," he said, but gave her a concerned and mildly disgusted look. "Just keep guard. And feed her. We rendezvous tomorrow."

He left them there. Mace went to speak but Depa flashed a glance at him then looked up. He followed her gaze to a holocam. He looked back at her, and used his powers to send an electrical jolt through it, frying the circuits. A tray of food had been left. He flicked the switch to open a window in the cell door, and gestured her closer to free her mouth. Then he passed her the food piece by piece.

"Teeth?" she said, pointedly biting off the end of the protein bar.

He prevented himself from wincing. "If the worry discourages him from 'sampling,' so be it. Are you all right? I hadn't planned on hitting you."

"I'm fine. You taught me how to take a fall when I was eight years old." She took another bite of her food. "Trim is frightened of his master, did you notice?"

He had. Mace had a bad feeling that meant trouble for them. "You should get some sleep. I'm supposed to be guarding you, and I'll gain more trust by not sleeping on the job. One of us should be rested when we inevitably have to fight our way out tomorrow." He toggled the switch and closed the small opening.

"Agreed." Depa settled onto the hard bunk in her cell, arms still behind her. Her shoulders must be numbing to sharp ice by now, and he regretted the choice in tying her that way. He watched her slow into relaxation then into sleep.

As was his assigned task, he watched her. He'd known this woman her entire life from infancy. She'd been a clever, curious girl, and the natural choice for his Padawan when that time had come. She had mastered each skill he set before her, some even better than he'd hoped. Depa had grown from a bright girl into a brilliant woman, who at this moment was willingly walking into servitude or worse for the chance to save others from the same fate. The Order had sharp words about the emotions he felt towards her, had felt for years. Mace had accepted the wisdom of the ban and had buried those emotions beneath his duty.

He was not sure what he would do if his feelings for her ever came up against that duty.

* * *

Mace was still wide awake when they reached their destination. In the middle of the evening cycle, a droid had come in to fix the broken holocam. Trim appeared impressed that his new employee was as alert as when he'd left Mace there hours before.

"Just doing my job," Mace said. "I had to remove the gag to feed her. I can retie it before we transport her."

Trim went to the force field over the opening to her cell. "Bring her. You can leave her ungagged for the moment, but be sure of her hands. Jedi can be deadly, even unarmed." He leaned in. "I have no idea how he intends to keep her."

"You. On your feet." Mace gestured with his blaster.

She gave him a tired glare. "I have no plans to march to my own execution."

He growled, stomping into the cell to grab her roughly by the arm. Depa stepped on his foot, rushing him, her hands falling free from his bad knot. He didn't know her plan, and feinted, falling to one knee on the floor. She hesitated, allowing him to get a grip on her leg and pull her down with him. She took the fall perfectly, and didn't resist as he yanked her up onto her feet with him. Had he been anyone else, he wouldn't have felt the movement as she picked his lightsaber from his inner coat pocket and stowed it deep in her own robes. Trim didn't notice a thing.

Mace pulled her arms behind her harder and tied the ropes again. They were too tight, but this was part of the show. "Move." He dragged her with him, and she obeyed.

Trim said, "You certainly can hold your own with one of these. My employer may be interested in hiring you to find her a counterpart."

"With all the trouble she's caused? I'll want twenty thousand."

Trim smirked. "We shall see."

They emerged from the ship onto a carrier full of droids. Mace hadn't thought this a Separatist plot, but the evidence surrounded him. "Is there a holding cell I should take her to? I don't like the thought of her running amok with all these droids around."

"My employer will want to see her." He made a thoughtful face. "But perhaps you're right. There are holding cells on the next level down. We can secure her there, then report."

He led them through the ship as Depa kept an eye on every twist and turn bringing them to the cells. "The new prisoner," Trim said to a guard. Depa was taken and placed in another cell similar to the one on the ship: three bulkheads and a forcefield covering the entrance. She wasn't alone. Mace gave an uninterested glance to the huddled figure in the corner, green and horned and filled with terror. He couldn't see the face, but he sensed the Force. Her guess had been correct. They weren't the only Jedi being targeted.

"Hello," he heard Depa say.

A much younger voice said, "Master Billaba?"

"Leave her," Trim said.

Mace watched their steps and paid attention to every guard he'd have to defeat on his way back. The number escalated rapidly. That most of them were droids didn't help matters much.

Trim relaxed as soon as they left the cells behind. "This isn't my idea of a good time, you should know. Jedi stealing is nasty business. You're a lucky man, Starnis. Most of our operatives don't survive the hunt. You're something special."

Chattering, he led Mace to the command center of the carrier. A bad feeling grew in Mace's head as they approached. The figure faced away from them, but he already knew. Mace clasped his hands in front of himself as though he were bound, shrugging the sleeves of the coat to cover his wrists.

"Master," Trim said. "We've brought in a Jedi as you instructed."

"I instructed you to collect two," said Dooku, turning to face them. His eyes sparkled as he saw Mace. "However, this is an excellent start."

Mace said nothing. Trim hadn't noticed the change in atmosphere. There was an alert at another part of the bridge, but Dooku silenced it with one hand as he stepped closer to examine Mace.

"Fascinating. How did you manage it?"

Trim said, "I arranged an alert of interest to the Jedi, and waited for them to send a team to investigate. I hired Priston and his gang to take the ones who came." Eager to please his master, he stepped forward and handed him Depa's lightsaber. "The Jedi killed all but one of them."

Dooku frowned as he inspected the hilt. He glanced at Mace, then lit the blade. The green light glowed eldritch between them.

Trim said, "We took this off her."

Dooku didn't take his eyes off Mace. "Her?"

The alerts grew in number over the bridge. A droid said, "Count Dooku, sir, there's been an incident in the cellblock." 

Dooku didn't even look at Trim as he hit him. "Fool!" He lit his own blade as Mace reached out and grabbed Depa's lightsaber with the Force, meeting his blow in the air. Trim fell back, astonished.

Mace didn't waste time trading barbs. He'd missed his chance to kill Dooku and end the war at the start. He didn't intend to miss again. They spun and fought, each looking for the one advantage that would best the other.

Another droid said, "Sir! The hangar!"

Mace smiled grimly. Depa hadn't wasted any time breaking herself and the Padawan out. He hoped she'd flee, saving herself and the child. Instead he sensed her approaching like a thundercloud.

The ship rocked as the ship they'd arrived in fired at them. Mace felt her in the Force. He rolled from a blow from Dooku's blade, then took hold of a support strut, just as a laser blast took out the front viewport, opening them to space.

Droids flew from their stations. Dooku reached out with the Force, pulling himself to the wall. Trim screamed, grasping at a panel and holding on in terror.

Mace breathed out, emptying his lungs, then let go.

He spun, feeling the buffeting air push him through the raw opening in the ship into empty, freezing space. Then he felt the strength of the Force catching him like a ball, pulling him towards the other ship. Depa waited at the airlock, pulling him inside and slamming the hatch closed before repressurizing. His last glimpse of the carrier showed an emergency force field forming over the hull where Depa's blasts had breached it.

"Noki, now!" she commanded into the comm panel the moment she caught her breath. Their ship jerked into hyperspace as they stood there. Instinctively, Mace's arms went around her to steady them both.

"I couldn't fight to get to you. I had to find you another way." The worry in her voice grew. "I felt something dark."

"It was Dooku. He's the one kidnapping Jedi. We'll have to tell the rest of the Council."

She nodded. "He captured Noki a few weeks ago. First mission out with his master, and he wound up here."

"You're unharmed?" he asked her.

"I am. Noki may need some counseling when we get him back to Coruscant. Trim was right. Dooku wants to start a breeding program to create Force users for his own purpose."

The possibility splintered out from the past: the pair of them captured and put into use for Dooku's plan, pushed into dreadful embrace. A man he'd once trusted would have shattered them both, and with careless horror, would have denied the hope Mace kept silent inside his shameful dreams, hope that one day he would set duty aside and reach out to her, and she would welcome him.

He kissed her, not thinking, not wanting to think. Mace felt the surprise in her mind, tasted the sudden confusion in her lips. A moment later, he backed away.

He blinked and looked down, away from her. "My deepest apologies. That was inappro...." He never finished the word. Depa kissed him back.

"I wondered when you'd come to your senses," she said, when she broke the kiss, smiling into his mouth as she spoke.

"Sense has nothing to do with this."

"Clearly, or you'd notice we've come out of hyperspace half a system away from where we were. We should go set the course before they come after us."

"Depa, I...."

"I know," she said. "We'll set our course. Noki can keep watch as we travel home. You and I should talk about things. A lot of things." She took his hand as she walked purposefully towards the cockpit, and he followed.


End file.
